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(No Model.)

F. L. KANE.

ROOFING FELT.

A No. 352,619. Patented Nov. 16, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

FREDERICK L. KANE, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

ROOFING-FELT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,619, dated November 16, 1886.

Application filed Jannary, 1886. Serial No. 187,681. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FREDERICK L. KANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful'lmprovements in Roofing-Felt, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to rooiing fabrics consisting of two or more layers of water-proof felt, paper, or analogous material cemented together. Such fabrics are commonly made of two or three layers of tar-saturated felt paper, cemented together with pitch or asphaltum. In coveringr a roof with felting of this character it is usual to lay it in horizontal courses, beginning next the caves, and lapping the successive breadths upon one another for a widthlof about two inches, fastening them by nails driven through the lap, and iinally covering the roof with one or more coats of paint. Some difficulty has been experienced, especially with low-pitched roofs, on account ofthe liability of theroofing thus applied to leak at the j oints orlaps. Various expedientev have been resorted to with a view to overcoming this trouble. It has been customary with some roofers, especially in making repairs of leaky roofs, to cover the joints with strips of muslin, cementing them down by first painting over the joint with rooting` paint, and then painting over the muslin. Some efforts have been made to incorporate the muslin or cloth for thus coveringthe joints with the roll of rooting-felt. In one construe'- tion, which has been patented, the felt is made with an upper layer of muslin, made Wider than the felt and extending beyond one edge thereof. In making the lap this overhanging edge is turned back, being separated from the felt for a sufficient distance to enable the nails to be driven through the lap, after which it is laid down over the joint and cemented in place with paint. This construction is open to the objection that the expense of so wide a layer of cloth would increase its cost over ordinary rooting-felt to so great an extent as to practically preclude its use. The permeation of the pitch through the layer of cloth would also be liable to cement together the convolutions in the roll, so that the material could not be unrolled.

Another construction, which has been patnearest the middle of the felt) is turned down over the joint after the lap is nailed, being cemented down with paint. The upper layer of felt extends under the freev portion of the cloth and there terminates," being as much narrower than the body of the felt as the width of the cemented portion of the cloth. Thus the cloth is brought into direct contact with the coating of cement applied to the middle la 'er. on3 account of the liability ofthe cloth to turn or curl up at itsfold, 'thereby holding water or snow at thejoint.-

My invention aims to provide a ready roofing-felt having a cloth flap to cover the joints or laps at a cost sufficientlyT moderate to permit of its extended introduction, and of a construction which shall enable the joints to be rendered tight and durable.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a perspectiveview of a roll of three-ply rootingy fabric embodying niy invention, the layers at the end of the piece being broken away to show the construction. felt, the middle portion being broken out, and the thickness of the layers being exaggerated,

This construction is disadvantageous,

Fig. 2 is a section of the to show the parts more clearly. Fig. 3 is a section of a roof, showing the joint made according toriny invention. Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 2, showing a two-ply felt. Fig. 5 is-another similar section showing a modified threeply felt, and Fig. 6 is a transverse section showing the lap made by a further modification of my improved felt.

I will first describe the construction shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3.

Let A A A designate the three layers of felt, which are cemented together with pitch or asphaltum in the usual manner. The upper layer, A, is made of less width than the two under layers, A2 A3, leaving the fabric of only two-ply along one edge.

is applied along this edge, extending under the edge of the layer A to a greater or less width, and there coniined by the cement. The portion of cloth beyond the edge of the layer A is free or uncemented, and extends beyond A strip of cloth, B, f

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the edge of the two under layers ofY felt, its Surplusportion being doubled or folded back upon itself, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. In this manner the roofing-felt is provided with a cloth flap, B, along one edge. The fabric thus constructed is wound into rolls, as usual, and sold. In applying it to a roof, the roofer proceeds as with the common roofng-felts, lapping the breadths as usual, but turning back the ilap B before nailing through the lap. When the lap has been nailed, the roofer will paint over the joint, and then turn downthe flap B over it, thereby covering the :nail-heads and the lap. The flap is sufficiently flexible and limp to remain down in place, being securely cemented by the coat of paint beneath it. One or more coats of paint finally applied over the entire roof serve to afford the requisite protection to the joint. Fig. 3 shows the joint thus made. The layer A stops just short of the lap, thus reducing the thickness of the joint. The nails are driven through a strip of metal, c, or through metal disks or washers, which are covered by the cloth flap B, which iiap extends over the joint and about an equal distance beyond into the breadth of felt below. It will be observed that when the joint is made the cloth flap lies lflat, being nowhere folded upon' itself; and, further, the upper margin of the cloth extends under the lower edge of the layer A (after the manner of shin gles) to a width suiicient to insure that no water or snow can find its way underneath the cloth. In case the roofing-felts should shrink or shift their position slightly, as they sometimes do under the iniiuence of the weather, the joint will not. thereby be affected, as the cloth mayeven be pulled downward somewhat from under the layer A without exposing its upper edge.

The cloth flap B is'folded over upon itself in the manufacture of the fabric, in order that it shall not project beyond the edge of the felt, which would bring it beyond the end of the roll, where it would become crushed and injuredin handling; but the cloth being folded in, the edges of the two layers A2 and As come to the end of the roll and protect the cloth iiap from injury. rIhe thickness of the felt being yreduced along this edge by the narrowing of the layer A', the doubling of the cloth compensates, as far as possible, for this reduction of thickness, thereby better protecting the roll of material from injury in handling, and also insuring a more even distribution of the cementing coating of pitch during the process of manufacture.

The manufacture of my improved roofingfelt is or may be conducted in much the same manner as that commonly followed with ordi nary roofing-felt-namely, by passing the three layers downward between rollers, with end pieces arranged to form a trough, and pouring hot pitch into the trough thus formed, on both sides of the middle layer, and cooling the comf pound fabric after it emerges beneaththe rollers. The strip of cloth to form the iiap B is brought from a roll, passed around a folding blade or device,'by which it is folded upon itself, and fed into the trough through a guide which directs it to the proper place. rIo keep 'it from being cemented to the middle layer, A2, by the intervening pitch, a strip, d, of paper impervious to pitch is fed in along with it, which strip becomes cemented to the layer Al and protects the flap B from contact with the pitch, thereby leavingit free. This paper also adds tothe thickness of the edge of the fabric.

My improved felt may be made, also, by any other ofthe methods and machinery now know n or used for making such fabrics. In case the method employed admits 'of interrupting the coating of pitch in order to keep the surface of the layer A2 uncoated beneath the free portion of the flap B, the paper strip d may be omitted.

rIhe strip of cloth need extend under the layer A only far enough to cement it securely in place. I avoid making it too wide,inorder to save any unnecessary expense in the manufacture.

Fig. 4; shows a two-ply feltmade according to my invention. It is identical with the constructionshown in Fig. 2, except that the third layer, A3, is omitted.

Fig. 5 shows another construction of threeply felt, which'diifcrs from that shown in Fig. 2 in two respects. The upper layer, A', is made narrower than the lower layers on both edges of the fabric, so that the lap will have a thickness of only four-ply, instead of five-ply,

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as in Fig. B. The strip of paper d is omitted,

the coating of pitch being no wider than the layer A.

Fig. 6 shows a further modified construction, introduced chiefly for the purpose of showing that it is not absolutely essential to my invention that the liap B shall extend beyond the edge of the felt. The view is a section of a joint or lap. rIhe lower edge of the felt (shown at the left hand) is constructed in l quite the same manner as is shown in Fig. 2,

except that the flap B comes only to the edge of the felt, and has no surplus to be folded back upon itself. The upper edge of the felt (shown at the right hand) has its upper layer, A', left uncemented for the width of the lap, forming a free ap, f. In laying the roofing, the iiap f of the breadth already laid is raised, and the lower edge of the next breadth above is inserted under it, (the cloth flap B being turned back.) 'Iheiiapfis then turned down and the lap is nailed. It is preferable to cement down the flapfbefore nailing. Finally, the cloth 'iiap is cemented down over the lap with paint.

Other modifications may be adopted in the manufacture, provided the essential features of my invention are not departed from. It is possible that some other material may be substituted for cloth as the material for the ap B-such, for inst-ance, as very tough flexible paper. rlhe essentials of this flap are, that it shall be tough, strong, iiexible, and, when moistened, limp enough to remain down in place until the paint dries and cements it.

With felt constructed according to my invention there is no, liability of the cloth lap being stuck fast in the roll, so that it cannot be unfolded or turned back. It offers no obstacle to the free unrolling of the roll.

I claim as my inventionl. A rooiing-felt consisting of two or more layers of water-proof felt cemented together, with the edge of the second layer, A2, extending beyond the edge of the upper layer, A, along one side, and provided with a free flap, B, of cloth, with its edge cemented under the edge of the layer A, substantially as set forth, whereby this flap may be turned up while nailing the lap, and may subsequently be turned down to cover the joint.

2. A roofing-felt consisting of two or more layers of water-proof felt cemented together, with the edge ot' the second layer, A2, extending beyond the edge of the upper layer, A', along one side, and provided along that side with a free ilap, B, of eXible cloth, with its one edge cemented under the edge of the layer A, and extending beyond that edge across the layer AZ to and beyond the edge of the latter, and uncemented thereto, substantial] y as and for the purposes set forth.

3., A rooting-felt consisting of two or more layers of water-proof felt cemented together, with the second layer, A2, extending beyond the edge of the upper layer, A', along one side, and provided along that side with a lap, B, of cloth, with its 'edge cemented under the edge of the layer A, and extending thence over the layer A2 to the edge of the latter, and with aV strip, d, of impervious paper interposed bcthe layer-A, and its remaining portion of a width exceeding the exposed portion of the layer A2, uncemented to the latter, and turned or folded in upon itself, substantially as set forth, whereby the cloth B is housed within the roll and does not extend beyond the end thereof. Y

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, FREDERICK L. KANE. VitneSses:

ARTHUR G. FRASER, ELBERT B. BOLTON.

40 tween said flap and the layer A2, and cemented 

